The rise of eco-anxiety

Have you ever watched a show of the planet being destroyed by deforestation, flooding or drought and thought “My goodness, climate change is destroying our planet and soon there’ll be nothing left”?

Let’s take a moment to appreciate Nima Sarikhani who won Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024, for capturing an image of a lone polar bear hunkering down and falling asleep on a slab of ice. For me, the image spoke a thousand words of what our planet has become and certainly filled my heart with sadness. But some may have felt an overwhelming sense of not just sadness wash over them.

It's almost impossible to avoid the news, magazines, journals and podcasts, all of which are amongst a vast library of outlets which paint a very dark and bleak picture of what the future of our planet could look like if we continue along the path we currently on. There’s little doubt that hearing, seeing and reading about world catastrophes can heighten awareness, but at the same time it can push us into survival mode where the primitive mind takes over.

The war on climate change

Do you feel that the war on climate change is being ignored by those who have the power to make change happen? Has this resulted in you experiencing agitation, sleepless nights, stomach upset, sweaty hands, increased heart rate, irritability or even a panic attack? If so, you could be suffering from eco-anxiety, which is an alleviated state of mental distress as a result of dangerous changes in the climate system. 

Who is more likely to experience this?

It’s well known that a large proportion of those experiencing eco-anxiety are aged between 16 and 25 years, and often feel as though their call for action is being ignored by those best positioned to make change occur. This level of abandonment creates frustration, which leads to a fear of what the future has in store, resulting in anxiety.

Reading negative articles about world catastrophes and joining action groups can heighten awareness but, for a person who is already experiencing eco-anxiety, it can often exacerbate symptoms. The solution is not to isolate ourselves from the world by avoiding all mention of climate change, but it’s instead to about gaining intellectual control where we are in control of our responses. 

Solution-focused hypnotherapy

Solution-focused hypnotherapy is particularly beneficial for all forms of anxiety, including eco-anxiety as it actively encourages you to move away from negative thinking and into a more positive frame of mind where a greater sense of hope will be fostered. 

By working collaboratively with you, small manageable goals can be set that help you to better deal with your feelings of anxiety. By working in this manner we can start to move you aware from operating out of the primitive mind which is hyper-vigilant, obsessive and negative, and into the conscious mind where logic and reason help you to gain intellectual control over your thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

When we have intellectual control then we begin to see things from a different perspective which in turn, can help us to develop coping strategies and a higher level of resilience. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing eco-anxiety then please reach out for help. As a qualified solution-focused hypnotherapist I can certainly discuss how I can assist you on your transformative journey.